


Make a New Friend Every Day

by equivocalEternity



Category: Fire Emblem: Kakusei | Fire Emblem: Awakening
Genre: Alternate Universe, Fluff, Gender-Neutral My Unit | Reflet | Robin, Other
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-09-18
Updated: 2017-09-18
Packaged: 2018-12-31 03:58:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,374
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12124032
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/equivocalEternity/pseuds/equivocalEternity
Summary: Chrom didn’tmeanto find a mysterious crater deep in a forest, miles from the camp, in the middle of the night. Or for there to be a strange creature with too many eyes and a truly concerning amount of teeth slowly coming towards him while he was unarmed and injured. He really didn’t. It just happened.Frederick was not going to be pleased.





	Make a New Friend Every Day

**Author's Note:**

  * For [electrum](https://archiveofourown.org/users/electrum/gifts).



Chrom didn’t _mean_ to find a mysterious crater deep in a forest, miles from the camp, in the middle of the night. Or for there to be a strange creature with too many eyes and a truly concerning amount of teeth slowly coming towards him while he was unarmed and injured. He really didn’t. It just happened.  
  
Frederick was not going to be pleased.  
  
All he had meant to do was take a walk. He had been having trouble sleeping lately, and thought the night air might do him some good. He had brought the Falchion, of course. He wasn’t dull, no matter what Frederick might imply.  
  
Or Lissa.  
  
Or Emmeryn.  
  
So he had grabbed his sword, put on his boots, and started walking. It was quiet, and peaceful, the air cool and fresh. After walking along the border of the camp for awhile, he decided to go into the woods; not too far, just to explore a bit.  
  
And then he heard the wailing.  
  
In hindsight, it probably would’ve been smarter to wake the rest of the Shepherds, but he didn’t stop to think before running in the direction of the sound. He had no idea what could be making it. It didn’t seem quite human, but he had never heard any animal make so eerie a sound. The moon was bright, so it wasn’t difficult to make his way through the trees, but somehow it didn’t take long before he was completely and totally lost. The wailing was definitely getting louder, though, so he wasn’t too worried.  
  
He didn’t know how long he was running towards the sound, but eventually the trees parted and he found himself in a clearing. It was idyllic, lovely and serene in the moonlight, but he didn’t have time to appreciate it; the wailing was nearly deafening now, and it seemed to be everywhere, surrounding, almost drowning him. The impulse to cover his ears and curl into a ball was great, but he managed to stay standing. Bracing himself on his sword, he looked around for the source of the sound, and saw a crater, like a gaping wound, in the middle of the clearing. He slowly made his way towards it, sword drawn. He peered into the crater. It was large—at least ten yards across, and four yards deep—and there was some sort of shape in the middle.  
  
The wailing abruptly stopped, and the shape moved. Chrom jolted in surprise—and promptly tripped over his own feet and into the crater. Sprawled at the bottom, he realized he had dropped Falchion. He tried to stand, but his leg gave out from under him and he crumpled to the ground, breathless with pain. Blinking away spots from his vision, he tried to stay calm. He sat up carefully, trying not to jostle his leg; his ankle was sprained, possibly broken, and there was nothing he could use to splint it nearby. He tried not to panic, but it was hard; he was alone, and defenseless, and nobody back at camp even knew he was gone. A cloud drifted in front of the moon, shrouding everything in darkness.  
  
_At least it can’t get any worse,_ he thought grimly—and froze.  
  
Staring out of the gloom was a pair of burning red eyes.  
  
Chrom swallowed a gasp as the eyes blinked, then _multiplied,_ two smaller pairs appearing right below them.  
  
They stayed like that for a while, neither Chrom or the eyes moving, just watching each other, until the moon came out from under the clouds, shedding a dim light over the clearing, and glinting off of the Falchion—which was held by the owner of the eyes.  
  
This time Chrom couldn’t hold back a gasp, and the thing holding the Falchion started, before narrowing its eyes and slowing stalking forward, further into the light. Chrom couldn’t move, transfixed by the sight before him.  
  
It was wearing a long coat, and looked almost human but for the extra eyes. And the horns, and the claws, and—were those wings? Those were definitely wings. It had wings.  
  
Alright then.  
  
The creature drew closer, and opened its mouth, revealing a set of extremely sharp teeth Chrom had just enough time to scrunch his eyes shut before it leaned in, and—  
  
“Why are you only wearing one sleeve?”  
  
Chrom opened his eyes. The creature was looking at his bare shoulder with no small amount of disdain, but it didn’t seem to be interested in mauling him, so he relaxed slightly.  
  
Wait.  
  
“Wait,” Chrom said. “did you just talk?”  
  
The creature frowned, and drew back, huffing.  
  
“Yes, I can talk, but that’s irrelevant. Why are you only wearing one sleeve?”  
  
Chrom gaped. Given the current situation, he couldn’t really think of anything else to do.  
  
“Well,” he said at last, “why wouldn’t I?”  
  
The creature blinked, all six eyes in unison. They opened their mouth, closed it, opened it again, and all around seemed very at a loss for words.  
  
“…Not to be rude,” Chrom said, when it became clear that they weren’t going to speak any time soon, “but would you mind giving me back my sword?”  
The creature jolted, and looked almost surprised to be holding it.  
  
“Of course, my apologies,” they said, handing Falchion to him.  
  
“Thank you—uh, I’m sorry, I don’t think I caught your name?”  
  
“Oh, my name? My name. Yes, it’s…” they stopped, looking faintly baffled. “That’s odd. I can’t remember.”  
  
“Really? Well, I’m sure it’ll come to you. My name is Chrom, pleased to be at your service.”  
  
“It’s good to meet you, Chrom, I’m Robin,” they said, and paused. “Wait.”  
  
“There, see, I knew it’d come to you.” Chrom smiled. “Now, would you mind helping me up? I need to get back to my camp, and I’ve injured my foot.”  
  
“Oh, of course! Hold on a moment,” Robin said, and—shifted, somehow, horns and wings and claws shrinking and disappearing. They closed their eyes, inhaled, and when they opened them again, only the largest pair remained, brown instead of red. They exhaled, and turned back to Chrom, holding out a very human hand.  
  
“How in Ylisse did you do that? I’ve never seen anything like it,” Chrom said, taking their hand and gingerly pulling himself up. “I have a great many questions for you, my friend.”  
  
Robin laughed, and put an arm around Chrom’s shoulder. “I fear I can’t answer most of them, for I’m as lost as you. In truth, I don’t remember anything before you came falling down here.”  
  
“Which reminds me,” Chrom said ruefully. “How are we going to get up? I can’t exactly climb, and it’s too far up for you to lift me—whoa!”  
  
Chrom clung to Robin as they picked him up and unfurled their wings, eyes ablaze.  
  
“Hold on tight,” Robin said, and launched into the air.  
  
Chrom held on tight.  
  
Robin soared out of the crater, high above the trees. Dawn was just beginning to break, and it cast a warm glow on the world below. Robin’s eyes were red and sixfold again, and their wings carried the two higher, but the horns and claws hadn’t made a reappearance.  
  
“Is that your camp? I’ll bring you there,” Robin said.  
  
Chrom looked where they were pointing, and nodded.  
  
“Thank you,” he said, and they flew towards camp. “I’m in your debt.”  
Robin laughed, and shook their head. “No need to thank me, really. You’ve made my night more interesting, and since it’s all I can remember, you’ve done me a great deed.”  
  
“Well,” Chrom said. “If interesting is what you’re looking for, then would you like to join my Shepherds? We could use someone with your talents.”  
  
“You herd sheep? That’s quite a weapon for fending off wolves, I must say,” Robin said.  
  
“Ha! No, it’s not exactly sheep we protect. I’ll explain, but it’d be more pleasant over breakfast. What do you say? Can I show you off to my crew?”  
  
“Why not,” Robin said as they landed right outside the camp. “I am rather hungry, after all.” They shifted back to fully human, gently setting Chrom down.  
  
“Alright then, my friend,” Chrom said, as they both walked into camp. “Come meet the Shepherds.”


End file.
